*****Official Cubs 2019 thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
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There are many internet posting fans of every MLB team similar to mstp.
Went to a couple other platforms that have Cards sites last night as Harrison Bader played during his recall return game, the reaction to his play was "interesting" to say the least.
Two magnificent CF catches, 3 BB's, triple...completely different hitter at the plate.
A month's worth of anger was poured out at Shildt playing infielders in the OF while Bader was gone. Winning the game was somewhat of an afterthought. Venting that anger was the order of the day.
I didn't have the heart to remind them of SSS, the mostly bad Milwaukee pitching, etc.
We sports fans are an interesting lot, the emotions we display on the internet.
Went to a couple other platforms that have Cards sites last night as Harrison Bader played during his recall return game, the reaction to his play was "interesting" to say the least.
Two magnificent CF catches, 3 BB's, triple...completely different hitter at the plate.
A month's worth of anger was poured out at Shildt playing infielders in the OF while Bader was gone. Winning the game was somewhat of an afterthought. Venting that anger was the order of the day.
I didn't have the heart to remind them of SSS, the mostly bad Milwaukee pitching, etc.
We sports fans are an interesting lot, the emotions we display on the internet.
I expect this team to play far better than they’ve shown. I refuse to accept laziness or complacency from the players.
Errors (in any facet of the game) made from aggressive play can be tolerated.
Errors made from mental lapses or succumbing to the pressures of the game are intolerable.
Ryan, Wick, and Kimbrel were stellar last night, and pitched like I expect of them.
Errors (in any facet of the game) made from aggressive play can be tolerated.
Errors made from mental lapses or succumbing to the pressures of the game are intolerable.
Ryan, Wick, and Kimbrel were stellar last night, and pitched like I expect of them.
Walks by relievers are killers. Kimbrel will keep getting better, I believe. It's been an odd season for him and I'm not sure even without the trip to the IL that he'd be at 100% at this point of the season. Really need him in his classic form for the September stretch run.
That's why all these stupid losses throughout the season, especially on the road, have pissed me off to no end. Cubs are 12th in the NL in save percentage; 23 blown saves out of 55 chances. Turn around even 3 or 4 of those and the rest of the season looks a lot different.
Fortunately, the Cubs have a lot of home games where they seem to have a better mindset than they do on the road.
Here is an article by Brett Taylor at BN. Sure, he is a homer, but he doesn't wear blinders. The Cubs will probably have for top 100 prospects when the post season rankings are released. That is good. There is some better organizational depth than people realize, and this past draft, and this Summer's IFA (Long ways away), were good. Theo and Jed do deserve credit for their work in the IFA, and reorganizing priorities the last two drafts when it comes to pitching.
https://www.bleachernation.com/2019...-baseball-america-as-the-second-worst-in-mlb/
Brett Taylor and his sidekick Cerami are not journalists, but homers. Don't get excited about the Cubs farm until neutral writers praise it.
I think Rizzo is the last guy you trade from that bunch for the following reasons:
1. The production has bounced back towards his 2014-2016 levels, which has pleasantly surprised me. Even at 2017-2018 levels, he is still very good.
2. The Cubs only owe him $14.5 each of the next two seasons. Anthony is a study in why one should bet on themselves. Him leaving a lot of money on the table has helped offset the bad Heyward and Darvish contracts.
3. Intangibles. Tony is this generation's Mr. Cub, the heartbeat if you will. I think the best execs are a bit ruthless, but I would make an exception with Rizzo. 44 needs to hang from the foul pole.
Regarding a Bryant extension, I want nothing to do with him in his 30's unless it's a team friendly discount (unlikely because Boras is the puppet master). This is yet another season of him failing to produce at 2016 levels and while he overall production is best on the team, I suspect that he will want too much. I'd be willing to pay him $25M through his age 34 year, not nothing more than that. His defense is already starting to regress, and his one truly elite skill (baserunning) will not age. Additionally, he has a unique inability to play through nagging injuries. I like Kris, but I imagine Boras will be looking for something that will pay him $30M+ through agre 37, and I'd want no part of that.
Contreras is the guy I would like to see them trade. Folks in this thread no longer argue that he is a good catcher because of adm strength and pop time. I'd like to get a really good defensive catcher and replace Willson's bat elsewhere on the diamond. I may be a bit biased as Contreras is the one Cubs player who I don't personally care for (I like passion, bit Willson is the spaz that we all played with in youth baseball).
Okay, and if the Cubs have four top 100 prospects you'll say what? I clearly stated that Taylor is a homer. I don't think that is up for debate when discussing a guy who runs a Cubs website. But, he is passionate, and comprehensive.
I love Rizzo, but the trend right now in baseball is that guys are peaking earlier than they used to and can fall off more quickly in their 30s. I'm not sure Rizzo is a guy who holds up well past 32-34. First base is the easiest position in baseball to replace and Rizzo is 29. Trading his bat with his established track record with 2 more years of control at a very reasonable price would allow the Cubs to demand a really good haul.
The Cubs have had good teams in my lifetime. 1984. 1989, 2001-2004 was mostly good, 2007-2009. This time they really built a good team in 2015-2016, but the way you sustain success is by allowing the roster to refresh every few years around a constant core. Rizzo may be a guy that plays out his career in Chicago, but if there's a next window for the Cubs, I don't think Rizzo will be a critical piece. Looking at current roster, I'd centralize around Castellanos, Baez and KB to start and maybe the Cubs can use pieces like Rizzo, Contreras, Schwarber, Happ to work some deals to bring in some good young talent, particularly pitching.
I honestly believe the intangibles Rizzo brings to the team outweigh his current trade value. I don't think you could bring in someone who has the offensive prowess AND locker room credentials that Rizzo has.
My preference would be to keep Baez, Bryant, Castellanos, and Rizzo. Trade Contreras, Schwarber, Happ, and see what can be done about Heyward. Heyward is not worth near what his contract would indicate.
Just my opinion.
I'm not going to be mad or anything if they keep Rizzo, but if they want to make a couple big moves to get younger, I think he's a guy that has a lot of value. Their best value guys are obviously Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras. You're almost certainly going to keep at least 2 of those guys as the core going forward. Happ has good prospect value currently. Schwarber isn't a lot on his own, but he's nice sweetener to coax more value out of a deal. Heyward is getting to the point where he's tradeable, but he's not a guy you're getting a good haul of young guys for, it might be a bad money swap where maybe the Cubs take another bad contract that's shorter in duration or something.
This season may very well be "the last go-round" of this era.
The Cubs roster is going to look a LOT different next year. Half the bullpen, Hamels, Zobrist, probably Castellanos and Morrow off the books, and some very painful arbitration may wipe a lot of that savings out. Maybe Darvish too.
Better hope you have lots of internal pitching options. From what I gather, 2020 FA pitching is scarce across the board in both quantity and quality - so the quality ain't gonna be cheap.
The Cubs roster is going to look a LOT different next year. Half the bullpen, Hamels, Zobrist, probably Castellanos and Morrow off the books, and some very painful arbitration may wipe a lot of that savings out. Maybe Darvish too.
Better hope you have lots of internal pitching options. From what I gather, 2020 FA pitching is scarce across the board in both quantity and quality - so the quality ain't gonna be cheap.
I tend to agree with this. I think this is when they need to transition to the next window. It doesn't need to be a new tanking or anything, but rather try to extend 1-2 of the core guys, shed several of the big contracts and maybe trade a couple guys. The Cubs do have some intriguing arms getting close, so hopefully they can stay healthy and continue to develop. Alzolay really needs to be able to slot in as the #5 next year.
Collin rea should play 3rd
This Nick guy was an absolutely steal
His arm was mostly broken when Theo signed him.
Terrible signing.
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